


A Different Kind of Warmth

by moondustings



Category: Merlin (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Banter, Canon Era, Court Sorcerer Merlin, Established Relationship, F/F, Fluff and Angst, Kissing, M/M, Magic, Post-Magic Reveal, Romance, Snow, Winter
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-01-08
Updated: 2018-01-08
Packaged: 2019-02-19 13:28:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13124703
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/moondustings/pseuds/moondustings
Summary: On a cold winter's night shortly following the return of magic to Camelot, Arthur and Merlin try to get used to a lot of things.





	A Different Kind of Warmth

**Author's Note:**

  * For [glim](https://archiveofourown.org/users/glim/gifts).



> Happy Merlin Holidays, glim!
> 
> I loved the gentle feel of the prompt that inspired this story, and I so hope it lives up to your hopes for it. I wish you so much warmth, happiness, and love throughout this holiday season, winter, and always. <3
> 
> Thank you to the mods for hosting this wonderful fest for us for another year. You are so appreciated. <3

Arthur’s eyes snapped up at the sound of Merlin pushing back through the heavy chamber door. As he turned to press it closed again, Merlin’s eyes swept quickly over the image of Arthur, sprawled out on his back across the bed, one hand resting languidly behind his neck. He hadn’t moved an inch from the spot Merlin had left him in. Typical. 

Rolling his eyes, Merlin bolted the door and turned back to face Arthur.

“Oh, don’t worry, sire, I’ll take care of everything,” he said, making his way across the room to the open window. “I wouldn’t want you to strain yourself.”

“Alright,” Arthur said. Merlin could hear the cheeky smile in his voice and sighed, hoping Arthur would take it as long-suffering annoyance at his prattishness, but knowing he would hear the fondness in it.

“You checked on Morgana and Gwen?” Arthur asked.

“Yes,” Merlin answered. “Morgana asked me to let you know that _‘It’s a snowstorm, not the end of the world; tell my brother to stop fussing, and remind him I’m older.’_ Then Gwen told me they were stargazing. Then I left.”

Arthur furrowed his brow. “ _Stargazing_?”

“That’s what she said.”

Arthur’s frown deepened. “What does that even mean? How? It’s been snowing for days, there’s no clear sky in sight.”

_Also they’re indoors_ , Merlin thought.

“I don’t know, Arthur,” Merlin managed through his grin. “She told me that, and then for some reason they were both giggling. That’s all I know.”

Arthur stared at him for a moment.

“Oh god,” he groaned, pushing the heels of his hands against his eyes.

“What?” Merlin asked, feigning innocence. 

“Shut up, Merlin.”

Merlin huffed a laugh through his nose. “Speaking of freezing and snowing and storms,” he segued, “Arthur, _why_ is this window open?”

“Don’t!” Arthur cried out, bolting upright and making Merlin jump about a foot back from the window he’d been reaching to close.

“What?!”

“It’s snowing,” Arthur replied, as if that explained everything.

“Yes, we’ve established that, your highness,” Merlin confirmed, drawing his words out slowly as if Arthur might be just a bit more daft tonight than usual.

“You love the snow,” Arthur said.

Merlin blinked at him.

“You do!” Arthur insisted, bizarrely enthusiastic. 

“I know I do, Arthur, but why does this window have to be _open_? You know it’s made of glass, right? We can see out of it.”

“I know windows are made of _glass_ , _Merlin_ ,” Arthur said, standing up at last and crossing the space to where Merlin stood. 

“But this one gets so fogged.” He paused, resting his palms against the frame and taking a deep breath in. “It’s _brisk_. It’s nice this way, isn’t it?”

Merlin stared, nonplussed, at the side of Arthur’s face. 

“Is freezing to death during the season’s first winter storm your new idea of inspirational leadership?”

Arthur turned to meet his eyes, looking suddenly serious and overly confident, usually a sign that he was a bit shy about whatever he was about to do or say.

“You can take care of that, right?”

Merlin felt his stomach knot. “What?” he asked.

“You know,” Arthur shrugged, gesturing toward the fireplace across the room behind Merlin’s back. Merlin glanced over his shoulder at it instinctively, and tried to swallow the lump in his throat. 

“Go on,” Arthur pressed, though his voice had shifted down just a notch softer.

“I think I brought the last of the flint to Morgana and Gwen earlier,” he replied, playing oblivious.

Arthur cocked his head to the side at him. “You know that’s not what I meant.”

Merlin met Arthur’s eyes again, and held his gaze for a moment. He saw nothing but encouragement there.

Sighing, he turned away slowly and started toward the fireplace. He heard Arthur moving back, returning to the bed behind him. 

Hunching down upon the hearth, the cold stone biting at the bones of his knees, Merlin took a deep breath, and closed his eyes.

When he opened them again, it was to a familiar feeling of warmth rushing through his body like a tepid river, from the soles of his feet to the points of his chilled knees, spreading up through his middle, and tingling to the tips of his fingers. He caught a glimpse of the flicker of his own eyes gently lighting the small space before them for a suspended moment, and then another kind of warmth rushed over him, the fire crackling instantly into roaring life.

Arthur let out a small gasp; Merlin swallowed and pressed his eyes closed at the sound, cheeks flaming.

It had been over a month now, one full month, since magic had officially been restored to the kingdom; since _Arthur_ , his _king_ now, had restored magic to the kingdom -- but Merlin still couldn’t quite seem to get used to the idea. After so many years of working so hard to conceal the truth of himself every moment of every day, to have to push himself down, deep down inside, never being fully known... after so much anxiety, loneliness, fear of rejection and pain and failure and death... it was an odd thing to be expected to simply cast it all off now. Even if he had desperately wished for it for what felt like lifetimes. It wasn’t simple at all.

He stood up and turned back around, and found Arthur staring at him as he had expected. He didn’t look shocked; he didn’t look angry; he didn’t look hurt or betrayed or confused or disgusted. Not at all.

But it wasn’t a simple thing to forget when Arthur  _had_. 

Arthur smiled at him, tentative but reassuring. 

Merlin couldn’t get used to it.

“Now, was that so hard?” Arthur teased, a beat after clearing his throat. 

“How would you know?” Merlin shot back. “You’ve probably never lit a fire by hand in your life, let alone with magic.” _Magic. Magic._

Arthur reached behind his head and threw a pillow at him. Merlin halted it in midair and sent it flyingoff sideways into a darkened corner of the room. 

Arthur’s shocked laugh echoed and bounced off the walls of the chamber, his loud, exuberant, half shriek of a laugh that Merlin only got when he truly caught Arthur off guard. Merlin felt the sound bounce around inside of him and echo through his head; he smiled and felt a bit of his tension melt away.

“Come on,” Arthur said, the spirit of that laugh still in his tone; he gestured toward the other side of the bed and began casually stripping off his own clothes.  “And blow those candles out, will you?”

Merlin halted in his tracks and rolled his eyes again, turning around to head toward the other small flames about the room. 

“I’m not your _manservant_ anymore, you know. I'm not sure if you’ve realized.”

“Oh I’ve realized,” Arthur answered. Merlin heard him shimmying down under the heavy covers.

Merlin stopped.

“What now, Merlin?” Arthur asked, rubbing his eyes.

Merlin smirked; all the candles went out.

Arthur gasped softly. A moment later, voice sounding just a bit deeper -- “Come over here, I said.”

“I _am_ over here,” Merlin came back from the edge of the bed, making Arthur jump in the darkness. “I see kingship doesn’t automatically grant one any degree of patience.”

Before he’d fully pulled back the covers to climb into the bed, Arthur latched onto Merlin’s arm and pulled him tumbling down beside him.

“ _Arthur_ ,” Merlin protested through a gasp of breathless laughter, limbs in a heap. 

“Shut up, Merlin,” Arthur told him, the signature bite in his tone nearly entirely absent as he pulled Merlin’s body the rest of the way toward his own. Merlin felt the soft, familiar heat of Arthur’s bare skin radiate through the thin material of his own tunic, and tried not to moan as Arthur pressed his lips to Merlin’s in a warm, firm, lingering kiss. _Tried._

Feeling himself relax more with each huff of Arthur’s breath against his mouth, each stroke of Arthur’s hand against his neck, his back, and down... his thoughts began to drift further and further away from his busy mind, like a dream upon waking.

“I’m still not used to it,” Arthur’s husky voice murmured, pulling back slightly.

Merlin felt his stomach drop.

“What?” he breathed, everything rushing right back, heart sinking down low as the beats ramped up in anxiety. “The magic?”

Arthur paused, then pulled Merlin even tighter against him, intertwining a leg with Merlin’s. 

“ _No_ , you idiot,” he assured him. “ _This_.” He kissed Merlin again, harder than before, more insistent, then pulled back again. “You getting to... be here. To _stay_ , every night. To get to have this.”

Merlin let his eyes close as the relief flowed through him again; as he felt Arthur’s strong hand stroke his back, underneath his shirt now.

“Oh,” he whispered.

What might have been a few minutes or possibly an hour later, Merlin felt Arthur pull away yet again; Merlin groaned, breathing heavily.

“What? Is something wrong?”

“Yes,” Arthur said, tone grave. “I’m still cold.”

Merlin rolled his eyes so hard he felt sure Arthur could see it even in the darkness, then pushed Arthur down onto his back and rolled his own body on top of him, pinning him down with a weight that still surprised Arthur.

“You don’t say,” Merlin mused, the tone of _“I told you so”_  heavily suffused within each word.

“Yes, I say,” Arthur replied, attempting to pull Merlin down for another kiss, but Merlin pulled away. 

Arthur’s sound of confused disappointment swiftly reshaped into a gasp of surprise as he felt the warmth of Merlin’s magic diffuse from the tips of his fingers and deep into Arthur’s skin; the gasp melted into a moan as the golden warmth trailed down, over his ribs, across his belly; as Merlin pressed his lips to Arthur’s chest, the warmth there glowing, emanating, unfolding and filling him everywhere.

“ _Merlin_ ,” he groaned, pushing his hands into Merlin’s hair.

_Magic_.

The window pulled shut with a sound as soft as the falling snow.


End file.
